Mobile communication apparatus having an accessory unit including at least the transponder circuit of a transponder unit

ABSTRACT

A mobile communication apparatus ( 1 ) includes a transponder unit ( 15 ) having transmission means ( 16 ) and a transponder circuit ( 17 ) and is adapted to accommodate an accessory unit (ESIM), the accessory unit (ESIM) being provided with at least the transponder circuit ( 17 ) of the transponder unit ( 15 ).

[0001] The invention relates to a mobile communication apparatus whichis adapted to communicate via an at least partly wireless communicationlink and which includes a transponder unit.

[0002] The invention further relates to an accessory unit for a mobilecommunication apparatus, which accessory unit includes accessory meansfor the mobile communication apparatus.

[0003] A mobile communication apparatus of the type defined in the firstparagraph is known, for example, from the patent document WO 99/41714A1. In the known mobile communication apparatus, which takes the form ofa mobile telephone, the transponder unit is formed by a cardaccommodated in a card holder inside the communication apparatus, whichrequires the provision of separate means, i.e. the card holder, forholding the card. The known mobile telephone is adapted to accommodateat least one accessory unit in a manner known per se, although this isnot referred to explicitly in the aforementioned patent document.However, is commonly practice for mobile telephone manufacturers to putsuch a mobile telephone onto the market without the mobile telephoneincluding a subscriber identity module (SIM), which is an accessory unitrequired for the correct operation of the mobile telephone. Such asubscriber identity module is available from a mobile-telephone networkprovider and should be mounted as an accessory unit into a mobiletelephone sold by a mobile telephone manufacturer. Such a subscriberidentity module includes a memory as an accessory means for the mobiletelephone, which memory can store the data representing the subscriberidentity as well as further data. Furthermore, such a mobile telephonealso has a battery pack, which battery pack also forms an accessoryunit, which includes at least one rechargeable battery as an accessorymeans.

[0004] It is an object of the invention to improve a mobilecommunication apparatus of the type defined in the first paragraph andto provide a mobile communication apparatus whose construction issimplified as compared with the known construction and whose transponderfunction can be set up more conveniently.

[0005] In order to achieve the aforementioned object characteristicfeatures in accordance with the invention are provided in a mobilecommunication apparatus in accordance with the invention, in such amanner that the mobile communication apparatus can be characterized inthe manner defined hereinafter, namely:

[0006] A mobile communication apparatus which is adapted to communicatevia an at least partly wireless communication link and which includes atransponder unit which is adapted to provide contactless communicationwith a communication station and which has transmission means and whichincludes a transponder circuit, and which is adapted to accommodate anaccessory unit which can be connected detachably to the mobilecommunication apparatus and which includes accessory means for themobile communication apparatus, in which the accessory unit is providedwith at least the transponder circuit of the transponder unit.

[0007] As a result of the provision of the measures in accordance withthe invention a particularly simple and compact construction is obtainedbecause no additional space is required to accommodate the transpondercircuit of the transponder unit, use being made of the space which isrequired anyhow to accommodate an accessory. Owing to the measures inaccordance with the invention it is further achieved that it is notnecessary to separately mount a card, provided as transponder unit, intothe mobile communication apparatus, as is required in the knowncommunication apparatus, but that mounting is effected at the same timethat the accessory unit is mounted, which also simplifies setting up.

[0008] In a mobile communication apparatus in accordance with theinvention the transmission means may be accommodated in the mobilecommunication apparatus separate from the transponder circuit and theaccessory unit may include at least one transmission means matingcontact by means of which an electrical connection can be made with atransmission means terminal contact of the transmission means which areaccommodated separately in the communication apparatus. However, it hasproved to be particularly advantageous if the transmission means areaccommodated in the mobile communication apparatus separate from thetransponder circuit and have two transmission means terminal contacts,and the accessory unit has two transmission means mating contacts withthe aid of each of which an electrically conductive connection can bemade with a respective transmission means terminal contact. Thisguarantees a correct electrical connection with the transponder circuitof the transponder unit in the accessory unit both for capacitivetransmission means and for inductive transmission means. In thisrespect, it has proved to be particularly advantageous when theaccessory unit is formed by an extended subscriber identity module,which in contradistinction to the subscriber identity modules known todate additionally includes the transponder circuit of the transponderunit.

[0009] In a mobile communication apparatus in accordance with theinvention it has also proved to be very advantageous when the accessoryunit includes the entire transponder unit. This construction has theadvantage that the transmission means, for example a transmission coil,need not be accommodated in the mobile communication apparatus separatefrom the transponder circuit, for example embedded in the housing of themobile communication apparatus, but are arranged on the accessory unittogether with the transponder circuit. In this respect, it has proved tobe particularly advantageous if the accessory unit is formed by anextended battery pack provided with the transponder unit which includesthe transponder circuit as well as the transmission means. In thepresent context, the extended battery pack has proved to be advantageousbecause such an extended battery pack has a comparatively large area,thus enabling transmission means having a comparatively large area to berealized. This is of particular importance in the case where thetransmission means are formed by a transmission coil because the rangeattainable with such a transmission coil depends on the area enclosed bythe transmission coil, i.e. in such manner that a larger range isattainable as the enclosed area increases.

[0010] An accessory unit in accordance with the invention includes theaccessory means for the mobile communication apparatus and, incontradistinction to the known accessory units, additionally includes atleast a transponder circuit of a transponder unit. Because of to thisconstruction in accordance with the invention it is achieved in a simplemanner that, when an accessory unit in accordance with the invention isplaced into the mobile communication apparatus, not only the accessorymeans required for the correct operation of a mobile communicationapparatus are placed into the mobile communication apparatus but, inaddition, also at least the transponder circuit of a transponder unit,as a result of which the functionality of the mobile communicationapparatus is extended with the functionality of the transponder unitwith a single movement of the hand.

[0011] Advantageous variants of an accessory unit in accordance with theinvention are characterized in that the accessory unit has twotransmission means mating contacts which each make it possible toestablish an electrically conductive connection with a transmissionmeans terminal contact of a transmission means accommodated in a mobilecommunication apparatus, separate from the transponder circuit, such anaccessory unit being very advantageously formed by an extendedsubscriber identity module, which in addition includes the transpondercircuit of the transponder unit.

[0012] Further advantageous variants of an accessory unit in accordancewith the invention are characterized in that the accessory unit includesthe entire transponder unit, i.e. not just the transponder circuit ofthe transponder unit but, in addition, also the transmission means ofthe transponder circuit. In this respect it has proved to beparticularly advantageous when the accessory unit is formed by anextended battery pack, which includes the transponder unit, in additionto the at least one battery pack.

[0013] The aforementioned aspects as well as further aspects of theinvention will be apparent from the examples of embodiments describedhereinafter and will be elucidated with the aid of these examples.

[0014] The invention will be described in more detail hereinafter withreference to two embodiments which are shown in the drawings by way ofexample but to which the invention is not limited.

[0015]FIG. 1 is a highly schematic block diagram which shows a relevantpart of a mobile communication apparatus in accordance with a firstembodiment of the invention.

[0016]FIG. 2 shows, in a manner similar to FIG. 1, a relevant part of amobile communication apparatus in accordance with a second embodiment ofthe invention.

[0017]FIG. 1 shows a mobile communication apparatus 1, which in thepresent case takes the form of a so-termed mobile telephone 1. In knownmanner, the mobile telephone 1 is adapted to communicate via an at leastpartly wireless communication link. For this purpose, the mobiletelephone 1 has an antenna 2, which projects from a housing 3 of themobile telephone 1. The housing 3 of the mobile telephone 1 has a firstholder compartment 4 and a second holder compartment 5. The first holdercompartment 4 serves to hold a battery pack 6. The second holdercompartment 5 serves to and is adapted to hold an extended subscriberidentity module ESIM.

[0018] The battery pack 6 forms an accessory unit for the mobiletelephone 1, which unit can be connected detachably to the mobiletelephone 1 in that the battery pack 6 is placed into the first holdercompartment 4. The battery pack 6 has a row of terminal contacts, notshown, which are engageable with an equal number of mating contactswhich project into the first holder compartment 4 of the mobiletelephone 1 so as to establish an electrically conductive connectionwhen the battery pack 6 is placed into the first holder compartment 4.The battery pack 6 includes a given number of rechargeable batteries,which each form an accessory means for the mobile telephone 1. Therechargeable batteries serve to provide the mobile telephone 1 withelectric power, the rechargeable batteries supplying a supply voltage Vwith respect to ground in the mobile telephone 1. The supply voltage Vcan be applied to all the parts of the mobile telephone 1 which requirethis supply voltage V.

[0019] The extended subscriber identity module ESIM, which can be placedinto the second holder compartment 5, also forms an accessory unit forthe mobile telephone 1. The extended subscriber identity module ESIMincludes a subscriber identity module SIM, which is known per se andwhich has a total number of eight (8) terminal contacts 7. By means oftwo of these contacts 7 the supply voltage V and ground potential can beapplied to the subscriber identity module SIM. Some other terminalcontacts 7 are connected to connection means 8, which are showndiagrammatically and whose purpose will be described in further detailhereinafter. The subscriber identity module SIM includes a memory (notshown), which forms an accessory means for the mobile telephone andwhich is intended and used for the storage of subscriber identity dataSIDA. In addition, the memory can store further user-related data, forexample a user-related telephone list and the like.

[0020] The antenna 2 of the mobile telephone 1 is connected to a signalprocessing circuit 9, which serves to and is adapted to process analogsignals and to process first digital signals DSI1. In a communicationmode a microphone 10 converts speech uttered by the user of the mobiletelephone 1 into analog signals TASI to be transmitted, which signalsare subsequently processed by the signal processing circuit 9 and thenapplied to the antenna 2 in order to be transmitted. After theirreception, signals received in such a communication mode with the aid ofthe antenna 2 are also processed by the signal processing circuit 9 andare subsequently applied as received analog signals RASI to aloudspeaker 11 in order to be reproduced acoustically.

[0021] First digital signals DSI1 received in a communication mode withthe aid of the antenna 2 are extracted by means of the signal processingcircuit 9 and are applied to a microcomputer 13 of the mobile telephone1 via a connection means 12, shown diagrammatically. In addition to amultitude of other means and functions, the microcomputer 13 inter aliarealizes processing means 14 for the first digital signals DSI1. Thefirst processing means 14 extract subscriber identity data SIDA includedin the first digital signals DSI1. The processing means 14 are connectedto the memory of the subscriber identity module SIM via connection means8 provided for this purpose. Thus, with the aid of the microcomputer 13,i.e. with the aid of the processing means 14, it is possible to applythe subscriber identity data SIDA stored in the subscriber identitymodule SIM to the microcomputer 13, i.e. to the processing means 14, viathe connection means 8, so that subsequently the microcomputer 13, i.e.the processing means 14, can make a comparison of the subscriberidentity data SIDA read from the memory of the subscriber identitymodule SIM with the subscriber identity data SIDA extracted from thereceived first digital signals DSI1, for example to enable acommunication mode when the subscriber identity data SIDA this comparedare identical.

[0022] The mobile telephone 1 also includes a transponder unit 15, whichin known manner is adapted to provide contactless communication with acommunication station which is not shown in FIG. 1. The transponder unit15 essentially consists of transmission means 16 and of a transpondercircuit 17, shown as a dash-dot line in FIG. 1. In the present case, thetransmission means 16 are formed by a transmission coil 16. In a mannerknown per se the transponder circuit 17 includes analog signalprocessing means 18 and digital signal processing means 19 as well asmemory means 20. The analog signal processing means 18 include aplurality of signal processing stages, not shown in FIG. 1, namely aclock signal regeneration stage and a demodulation stage and a decodingstage and a modulation stage and an encoding stage. In the present case,the digital signal processing means 19 are formed by a furthermicrocomputer, but this is not strictly necessary because the digitalsignal processing means 19 may alternatively be formed by a so-calledhard-wired logic circuit. The digital signal processing means 19 serveto process second digital signals DSI2. The memory means 20 serve to andare adapted to store transponder data obtained with the aid of thesecond digital signals DSI2 and to supply previously obtainedtransponder data. It is to be noted that the transponder unit 15 isadapted to provide contactless communication in accordance with the ISO14.443 standard.

[0023] As is apparent from FIG. 1, the extended subscriber identitymodule ESIM provided in the mobile telephone 1 as an accessory unit forthe mobile telephone 1 is provided with the transponder circuit 17 ofthe transponder unit 15. In an advantageous form of the extendedsubscriber identity module ESIM the memory of the subscriber identitymodule SIM and the transponder circuit 17 are realized by means of asingle integrated device.

[0024] In the mobile telephone 1 the transmission coil 16 is arranged inthe mobile telephone 1 separate from the transponder circuit 17. Thetransmission coil 16 is molded in the housing 3 of the mobile telephone1, the transmission coil 16 having two transmission coil terminalcontacts 21 and 22 as transmission means terminal contacts. In thepresent case, the extended subscriber identity module ESIM provided asan accessory unit has two transmission means mating contacts 23 and 24,with the aid of which an electrically conductive connection with arespective transmission coil terminal contact 21 or 22 can be made.

[0025] Thus, in the mobile telephone 1 the accessory unit is formed bythe extended subscriber identity module ESIM, which includes theconventional subscriber identity module SIM and, in addition, includesthe transponder circuit 17 of the transponder unit 15. It is to be notedthat in the case of the mobile telephone 1 shown in FIG. 1 not only theextended subscriber identity module ESIM can be placed into the secondholder compartment 5 but alternatively a conventional subscriberidentity module SIM can be placed into the second holder compartment 5because there is no difference in size between these two modules ESIMand SIM as a result of the implementation as an integrated circuit. Itis obvious that if a conventional subscriber identity module SIM isplaced into the mobile telephone 1 shown in FIG. 1 the transponderfunction will not be available.

[0026]FIG. 2 also shows a mobile telephone 1. In the mobile telephone 1shown in FIG. 2 the second holder compartment 5 serves to and is adaptedto hold a simple subscriber identity module SIM.

[0027] The first holder compartment 4 of the mobile telephone 1 shown inFIG. 2 can accommodate not only a simple battery pack (see FIG. 1),which battery pack is not shown in FIG. 2, but at option it can alsoaccommodate an extended battery pack 25, which also forms an accessoryunit for the mobile telephone 1. In the present case, the extendedbattery pack 25 provided as an accessory unit is provided with theentire transponder unit 15. Thus, the extended battery pack 15 includesboth the transmission coil 16 and the transponder circuit 17. Theextended battery pack 15 has a row of terminal contacts which are notshown and which can engage with an equal number of mating contacts, notshown, of the mobile telephone 1 so as to form an electricallyconductive connection. Some of these mating contacts are connected to abus system 26, which is shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2 and which isfurther connected to the microcomputer 13, thereby enabling a dataexchange between the microcomputer 13 of the mobile telephone 1 and thedigital signal processing means 19 and the memory means 20 of thetransponder circuit 17.

[0028] With regard to transponder units 15 used in the two mobiletelephones 1 described hereinbefore it is to be noted that thetransponder unit 15 of the mobile telephone 1 of FIG. 1 is a so-calledactive transponder unit, wherein the power supply of the transponderunit 15 is provided by means of the battery pack 6 of the mobiletelephone 1. Conversely, the transponder unit 15 of the mobile telephone1 of FIG. 2 is a so-called passive transponder unit, in which the powersupply is not provided by the mobile telephone 1, i.e. not by theextended battery pack 25, but in which the power supply is provided in acontactless and inductive manner by a communication station whichcooperates with the transponder unit 15. This has the advantage that thetransponder unit 15 also remains operable in the event of failure of thepower supply of the mobile telephone 1 from the extended battery pack25, for whatever reason.

[0029] Finally, it is to be noted that the invention is not limited tomobile telephones but can also be used advantageously in other mobilecommunication apparatuses, for example in a so-called pager or in aso-called personal digital assistant.

1. A mobile communication apparatus (1) which is adapted to communicatevia an at least partly wireless communication link and which includes atransponder unit (15) which is adapted to provide contactlesscommunication with a communication station and which has transmissionmeans (16) and which includes a transponder circuit (17), and which isadapted to accommodate an accessory unit (ESIM; 15) which can beconnected detachably to the mobile communication apparatus (1) and whichincludes accessory means for the mobile communication apparatus (1), inwhich the accessory unit (ESIM; 25) is provided with at least thetransponder circuit (17) of the transponder unit (15).
 2. A mobilecommunication apparatus (1) as claimed in claim 1, in which thetransmission means (16) are accommodated in the mobile communicationapparatus (1) separate from the transponder circuit (17) and have twotransmission means terminal contacts (21, 22), and in which theaccessory unit (ESIM) has two transmission means mating contacts (23,24) with the aid of each of which an electrically conductive connectioncan be made with a respective transmission means terminal contact (21,22).
 3. A mobile communication apparatus (1) as claimed in claim 2, inwhich the accessory unit (ESIM) is formed by an extended subscriberidentity module (ESIM) provided with the transponder circuit (17) of thetransponder unit (15).
 4. A mobile communication apparatus (1) asclaimed in claim 1, in which the accessory unit (25) is provided withthe entire transponder unit (15).
 5. A mobile communication apparatus(1) as claimed in claim 4, in which the accessory unit (25) is formed byan extended battery pack (25) provided with the transponder unit (15).6. A mobile communication apparatus (1) as claimed in claim 1, in whichthe transponder unit (15) is adapted to provide contactlesscommunication in accordance with the ISO 14.443 standard.
 7. Anaccessory unit (ESIM; 25) for a mobile communication apparatus (1),which accessory unit (ESIM; 25) includes accessory means for the mobilecommunication apparatus (1) and is provided with at least a transpondercircuit (17)of a transponder unit (15).
 8. An accessory unit (ESIM) asclaimed in claim 7, in which the accessory unit (ESIEM) has twotransmission means mating contacts (23, 24) with the aid of each ofwhich an electrically conductive connection can be made with arespective transmission means terminal contact (21, 22) of atransmission means (16) of the transponder unit (15).
 9. An accessoryunit (ESIM) as claimed in claim 8, in which the accessory unit (ESIM) isformed by an extended subscriber identity module (ESIM) provided withthe transponder circuit (17) of the transponder unit (15).
 10. Anaccessory unit (25) as claimed in claim 7, in which the accessory unit(25) is provided with the entire transponder unit (15).
 11. An accessoryunit (25) as claimed in claim 10, in which the accessory unit (25) isformed by an extended battery pack (25) provided with the transponderunit (15).
 12. An accessory unit (25) as claimed in claim 7, in whichthe transponder circuit (17) is adapted to provide contactlesscommunication in accordance with the ISO 14.443 standard.